Collection Contents

This series contains administrative, research, and subject files from the Serrano Irrigation District. The files were maintained
by F. H. Collins, who served the district from 1928 to 1973 as secretary, treasurer, assessor, and collector.

Arrangement

Alphabetical.

Processing note

For the most part, the original file names and arrangement have been maintained.

California Department of Public Works request for statistical data from the Serrano Irrigation District1930

Box : Folder 1 : 11

California State Board of Equalization: correspondence, tax return, and regulations1935

Box : Folder 1 : 12

Check register1931

Cerro Villa Mutual Water Company

Box : Folder 1 : 13-14

Inclusion 1962-1966

Box : Folder 1 : 15

Stock certificates1921-1928

Collins, F. H.

Box : Folder 1 : 16

Miscellaneous notes1926-1973

Scope and Content Note

Contains notes on a wide variety of water district matters, including summaries of district history and a draft of Collin's
letter to the board of directors that outlines his service and notifies them of his retirement.

Orange Fruit and Packing Co.

Scope and Content Note

F. H. Collins managed citrus packing houses before taking over his father's water company responsibilities.

Contains board resolution accepting Collins' resignation and photocopy of brass plaque presented to Frank H. Collins "in appreciation
of service to the Serrano Irrigation District and its predecessors as secretary, assessor, treasurer, collector, April 1926
- April 1973."

Box : Folder 1 : 20-21

"Condition of Affairs" report by J. Roy Adams1933, 1935

Box : Folder 1 : 22-27

Correspondence1930-1939

Box : Folder 1 : 28

County of Orange contracts1932-1938

Box : Folder 1 : 29, FB-065 : 002

Deeds to water rights1871-1898

Scope and Content Note

Contains early records of water rights held by members of some of the companies and associations that preceded the Serrano
Irrigation District.

Box : Folder 1 : 30

Deposit security bonds1933-1937

Elections

Box : Folder 1 : 31

Appointments in Lieu of Elections: County Clerk resolution1971

Bond proposition, June 1, 1929

Scope and Content Note

Contains materials concerning the vote on the proposition to issue of $200,000.00 bonds of Serrano Irrigation District.

Box : Folder 1 : 32

Ballots (marked)1929

Box : Folder XOS 1

Envelope for voted ballots and election results1929

Box : Folder 1 : 33

Results1929

Scope and Content Note

Includes voter signatures, ballot tally, ballot statement, and official results.

Box : Folder 1 : 34

Directors' executed oaths of office1929-1941

Box : Folder 1 : 35-36

February 6 election returns of precincts 1 and 41929

Box : Folder 1 : 37

Nomination petitions1929-1943

Box : Folder 1 : 38

Notices and calendars1931, 1937

Box : Folder 1 : 39

Rubber stamp for marking ballots1929

Box : Folder 1 : 40

Supplies: order forms, delivery notices, and other materials1934-1936, undated

Box : Folder 1 : 41

Uniform District Election Law memorandum1966

Box : Folder 1 : 42

Equipment brochures for water pumps1926, undated

Box : Folder 1 : 43

Establishment and consolidations1912-1944

Scope and Content Note

Contains information on the beginnings of the Serrano Irrigation District and selected documents on some of the entities that
were absorbed by the district. It includes records concerning the Serrano Water Association, the Gray Tract Well, and the
Lotspeich Well. It also includes a 1944 record of the final distribution of assets for the "Villa Park Well Co."

Box : Folder 1 : 44

Feather River Project Association newsletter1962

Box : Folder 1 : 45

Filtration plant research notes1960-1968, undated

Box : Folder 1 : 46-52,2 : 1-5

Financial reports1931-1936

Box : Folder 2 : 6

Fisher, Harold, easement deed and subordination agreement1962

Insurance policies and statements

Box : Folder 2 : 7

Casualty and public liability1930-1940

Box : Folder 2 : 8

Fire1935-1941

Box : Folder 2 : 9

Automobile1929-1944

Box : Folder 2 : 10

State compensation and workmen's compensation1931-1959

Box : Folder 2 : 11

Invoices and receipts1927-1930

Box : Folder 2 : 12

Lake Mathews: statistics and agreement1962

Scope and Content Note

Contains statistics on the monthly evaporation of Lake Mathews and a draft of an agreement between the Serrano Irrigation
District, the Carpenter Irrigation District and the Irvine Company.

Legal matters

Box : Folder 2 : 13-14

Claims filed1931-1932

Box : Folder 2 : 15

Copy complaint and summonsundated

Box : Folder 2 : 16

Jones, M. E.: thirty days notice and correspondence1937

Box : Folder 2 : 17

Rutan and Mize, attorneys: correspondence1929-1942

Master water studies

Box : Folder 2 : 18, XOS 1

Voorheis, Trindle, Nelson, Inc. report and oversized map1962

Box : Folder 2 : 19

VTN Orange County [Voorheis, Trindle, Nelson] report 1969

Box : Folder 2 : 20-21, XOS 1

Metropolitan Water District Delta Tour: itinerary, brochures, and map1967

Scope and Content Note

This material documents F. H. Collins' participation in the Anaheim Union Water Company's inspection trip of the California
Aqueduct System and the Oroville Dam. It also includes material on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's
expansion program with an emphasis on the water districts in the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Box : Folder 2 : 22-24

Orange County flood control, Villa Park Dam1929, 1959-1966

Scope and Content Note

Includes notes, reports, agreements, clippings, and an event program from the dedication of the dam.

Orange County Water District

Box : Folder FB-065 : 2

Map of facilities for ground water replenishment and for distributing Colorado River water 1963

Box : Folder 2 : 25-26

Engineer's reports on ground water conditions1959, 1961

Box : Folder 2 : 27

Water supply conditions report1964

Scope and Content Note

Includes statistics on water purchased, natural inflow, wellwater levels and rainfall indexes for 1940 to 1963.

Contains
Santa Ana Register article by Charles D. Swanner concerning the 1903 discovery of a buried treasure of gold coins at the site of the Santiago
Creek diversion. The gold was discovered by George Washington Smith as he was digging an irrigation ditch for the John T.
Carpenter Water Company. Also includes five color photographs of Frank H. Collins and Archie Perkins at the site taken by
Swanner for the article. The reverse side of each photograph contains a description.

Box : Folder 2 : 34

Santiago Creek flow: statistics1937

Santiago Dam

Scope and Content Note

Documentation often refers to the project as the Santiago Creek Dam or Santiago Dam and Reservoir. The dam was designed by
A. Kempkey. The resident engineer was D. W. Albert. The dam was constructed by R. G. Le Tourneau. The dam was completed
in 1931.

Contains 25 black-and-white photographs. Most photographs are unnumbered and those that are numbered are not listed in the
photo index.

Irvine Company

Box : Folder 3 : 4

Invoices and correspondence1931-1938

Box : Folder 3 : 5, FB-065 : 2

Proposals and agreements1969-1972

Scope and Content Note

Contains outline of 1928 agreement and subsequent agreements concerning the Santiago Reservoir, Collins' notes, the Irvine
Company's proposal for ownership, a performance test report, and a photograph. Also included is an issue of the
Rancho San Joaquin Gazette (Vol. III, No. 1), which contains a map of the northern half of the Irvine Ranch showing the Irvine Lake, Santiago Creek,
and the site where buried treasure was found.

Contains defense of the soundness of the Santiago Dam and Reservoir. Materials include statistics, diagrams, maps, Collins'
notes, correspondence, clippings, and reports concerning flood control and safety questions.

Box : Folder 3 : 9

Subdivisions, agreements to supply water to1962

Box : Folder 3 : 10

Union Oil Company agreements1940-1941

Villa Park Mutual Water Company

Box : Folder 3 : 11

Agreements and correspondence1929-1963

Box : Folder 3 : 12

Annual reports1951, 1957

Box : Folder 3 : 13

Bylaws1935

Box : Folder 3 : 14

Delivery of water to: rules and reports1932-1939

Box : Folder 3 : 15

Vista Irrigation District annual report and notes1961

Box : Folder 3 : 16

Voorheis, Trindle and Nelson, Inc. general conditions of agreementundated

Box : Folder 3 : 17

Water meters: R.W. Sparling correspondence and brochures1931-1935

Series 2.
Serrano Water Association records1890-1946, bulk 1890-1931

Physical Description:
1 linear foot

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains administrative records from the Serrano Water Company and the Serrano Water Association, which were one
and the same; documentation reveals the organization's final decision in 1910 to function as an association rather than a
corporation. Records in the collection document operation as early as 1890, but no minutes or founding documents are found
until 1910. Handwritten notes by F. H. Collins, who served as secretary from 1926 until its official dissolution in 1928,
indicate that the Serrano Water Association existed from 1873-1929 and included landowners from both Gray Tract and Lotspeich
Tract.

As stated in Section 3 of the "Articles of Association" (March 19, 1910), the purposes of the association were "primarily
and principally, the storage, diversion, and distribution of waters in and from the said Santiago Creek appurtmant [appurtenance]
to certain lands located on the North side thereof owned by parties who thereby only are entitled to membership in the Association
which shall not act in an agency capacity?" Signatures on articles of association include F. D. Collins, who served as secretary
until his death in 1926.

At some point the Serrano Water Association established a partnership with the John T. Carpenter Water Company; they held
a joint bank account with the First National Bank of Orange, which is documented herein.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Box : Folder 4 : 1

Agreements: purchases, easements, and leases1923, 1927, undated

Box : Folder 4 : 2

Annual reports 1927-1928

Scope and Content Note

Includes reports for joint account of John T. Carpenter Water Company and Serrano Water Association.

Box : Folder 4 : 3-5

Bank statements and cancelled checks

Joint account of John T. Carpenter Water Company and Serrano Water Association1926-1927

This series contains administrative records from the Gray Tract Water Company, which was established to protect the water
rights of the members of the Serrano Water Association shareholders who owned land in the Gray Tract area. The purposes of
the organization as stated in the "Articles of Association" (1907) include: "1. The building and maintaining of conduits
for the safe carrying and distribution of the water belonging to the members of the association from the point or points to
which it may be brought by the L. Serrano Water Association and to the lands where it may rightfully used; 2. The protection
of the rights of the members of this association in and to the property controlled by the L. Serrano Water Association?"
F. D. Collins was elected secretary in 1911.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Processing note

Loose items found within ledgers were removed for preservation purposes, housed in separate folders and named "supplemental
materials."

Includes minutes from the first meeting, articles of association, bylaws and list of stockholders.

Series 4.
Gray Tract Well Company records1912-1931

Physical Description:
1.5 linear feet

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains administrative records created by the Gray Tract Well Company, which was incorporated August 8, 1912.
F. D. Collins was a founding member. The Gray Tract Well Company was absorbed by the Villa Park Mutual Water Company in 1928.

Arrangement

Alphabetical.

Processing note

Loose items found within ledgers were removed for preservation purposes, housed in separate folders, and named "supplemental
materials."

Box : Folder 8 : 2

Affidavits of publication1927-1928

Box : Folder 8 : 3

Annual report1927

Box : Folder 8 : 4-10

Bank transactions1922-1928

Scope and Content Note

Includes check registers, monthly statements, cancelled checks, and receipts made for mortgage and loan payments. Accounts
were held with First National Bank in Santa Ana, California.

Box : Folder 8 : 11-15

Bills payable1926-1928

Scope and Content Note

Includes monthly statements summarizing bills payable and receipts for bills paid. Includes some receipts for mortgage and
loan payments.

Box : Folder 8 : 16

Blank formsundated

Box : Folder 8 : 17

Bylawsundated

Box : Folder 9 : 1

Correspondence and invoices concerning the purchase of deep well turbine pumps1926

Box : Folder 9 : 2

Dissolution of corporation: cancelled stock certificates, receipts, and final distribution of assets1927-1929

Includes minutes, recommendations, and resolutions, including minutes from first meeting, bylaws, and list of original stockholders.

Box : Folder 11 : 4

Notices to stockholders1925, 1927

Scope and Content Note

Includes handwritten copy of State of California "Report of Gray Tract Well Company for Year 1927."

Box : Folder 11 : 5-6

Stock certificates1912-1927

Box : Folder 11 : 7

Tax assessments and receipts1918, 1926-1928

Series 5.
Lotspeich Water Association records1915-1929

Physical Description:
0.6 linear feet

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains administrative records created by the Lotspeich Water Association, which was founded in March of 1915
to protect the water rights of the members of the Serrano Water Association shareholders who owned land in the Lotspeich Tract.
The overarching purpose of the association as stated in the "Articles of Association" (1915) was "to receive from the Serrano
Water Association such waters from the Santiago Creek as shall be delivered to it by the said Serrano Water Association."
F. D. Collins was the founding secretary.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Processing note

Loose items found within ledgers were removed for preservation purposes, housed in separate folders and named "supplemental
materials."

Series 6.
Santiago Well Company records1918-1929, 1937, bulk 1918-1929

Physical Description:
0.8 linear feet

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series contains administrative records created by the Santiago Well Company, a "mutual irrigation business," which was
established in 1918. F.D. Collins was a founding member. In 1928 the Santiago Well Company was dissolved when it was absorbed
by the Villa Park Mutual Water Company.